hello hi everyone!Today we’ll finally be answering the age old question of “what kind of astronaut food do you eat with chopsticks?” with some inspiration from Daniel Dae Kim’s astronaut meal in “Stowaway,” which looks to be a Korean banchan dish called gamja jorim.

Now, for those not familiar, “banchan” broadly refers to the dozen or so side dishes that you get with your meal when you eat at korean BBQ restaurants. It can include a wide variety of dishes including things like kimchi, daikon, japchae glass noodles, bean sprouts, mung beans, and more, and in fact if you find yourself at a REALLY good korean BBQ spot, often times these “banchan” side dishes can end up being the highlight of the meal. One of my personal favorite banchan dishes is gamja jorim, which is a potato that is seared and then braised in a sweet and savory honey glaze. It’s high in protein and nutrition, it’s reasonably pantry stable (in an astronaut bag at least), and most importantly, it’s cooked in a braise, so it would reheat well. So just making a small leap here, I’m gonna guess this is what he was eating. Hope you try it!

 

Serves 2-3

INGREDIENTS

  • 4 cloves garlic

  • 1 inch (about 1 tbsp) ginger

  • 8-10 Yukon Gold potatoes

  • sesame seeds

  • peanut oil

  • 1/2 cup water

INGREDIENTS (sauce)

  • 4 tbsp soy sauce

  • 1 tbsp sesame oil

  • 1 tbsp dark soy sauce

  • 1 tbsp black vinegar

  • 1 tbsp dry sake

  • 1 tbsp fish sauce

INGREDIENTS (glaze)

  • 2 tbsp honey

  • 2 tbsp maple syrup

PREP

  • CRUSH and mince the garlic, set aside

  • FINE MINCE the ginger, set aside

  • LARGE DICE the potatoes, set aside

  • COMBINE all sauce ingredients, set aside

  • COMBINE glaze ingredients, set aside

ON THE STOVE

  • HEAT a wok as hot as possible, then add 4 tbsp of peanut oil and long yao

  • SEAR the potatoes for 2 1/2 minutes without moving, then toss and saute for an additional 1 minute

  • WIPE down the wok, reheat, add an additional 2 tbsp of peanut oil and long yao

  • ADD the garlic, ginger, and whites of the green onions, and saute until fragrant for about 10 seconds

  • ADD the potatoes and sauce plus 1/2 cup of water and let simmer for 25 minutes, adding additional water as needed

  • ADD the glaze, then toss and simmer for an additional 5 minutes

  • FINISH with sesame seeds and serve in an astronaut vacuum sealed bag

 

tagged with woo can cook, gamja jorim, korean potatoes, braised potatoes, glazed potatoes, stowaway, daniel dae kim